Valve used as a control



8- 31, 5 R. c. CHURCHMAN 2,687,841

VALVE USED AS A CONTROL Original Filed Dec. 29. 1 947 El. EC 1791;:SUPPLY 5 C OMPRESSO)? M070? CON TIYOL C OM PPESSO? M0 TOR FROM con/195550,

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Patented Aug. 31, 1954 VALVE USED AS A CONTROL Russell C. Churchman,deceased, late of Des Moines, Iowa, by Nellie Churchman, executrix,

Polk County, Iowa Original application December 29, 1947, Serial Dividedand this application December 1, 1950, Serial No. 198,511 (01. 230-24) 3Claims.

, This is a divisional application from the prior application of Russell0. Churchman for a valve used as a control filed on December 29, 1947,having Serial No. 794,387, Patent No. 2,532,607, December 5, 1950.

This invention relates to a valve structure and more specifically to avalve structure that is an improvement in an air compressor, storagetank combination that functions to provide air under pressure to anothervalve connected to the air storage tank to open the valve and allowaccumulated moisture from the air storag tank to escape.

Present air compressors are mostly all operated by an electric motorwith the air compressor con nected to an air storage tank. Electriccurrent is furnished to the compressor motor through an electric switch.The electric switch is connected to the air storage tank and the switchis closed, allowing electric current to flow to the cornpressor motor,when the pressure of the air in the storage tank falls to apre-determined low value. The switch is held closed and the aircompressor operated until the air pressure in the storage tank reaches apredetermined high value, when the switch is opened and the aircompressor stopped.

In other compressor installations, the compressor runs continuously, aswith compressors on trucks or with big compressor units that require alarge starting torque where it is more economical to allow the electricmotor to run continuously. When the compressor puts pressure on the airin the air storage tank to the predetermined high value, valves in thecompression cylinders of the compressor open and while the pistonsoperate in the cylinder, the cylinders are open to the atmosphere henceno compression of air takes place.

In applicants previous application, Serial No. 625,225 filed October 29,1945, Patent No. 2,552,518, May 15, 1951, the problem of drainingaccumulated moisture, that results from compressing air, from an airstorage tank is discussed and a solution offered and applicantsapplication Serial No. 651,261 filed March 1, 1946, Patent No.2,505,663, April 25, 1950, shows a valve member to be attached to astorage tank through which the accumulated moisture may drain. Thepresent invention deals with a new and improved means in the form of asecond valve to provide air under pressure to operate the valveconnected to the air storage tank.

It is an object of the invention, among others, to provide new andimproved valves wherein a pressure medium enters the valve and is storedin a reservoir when the outlet from the valve is closed and the inletopen; and the stored air from the reservoir released when the outlet isopen and. the inlet closed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide new and improvedvalves for an air compressor-storage tank combination wherein air underpressure enters the valve and is stored in a reservoir when the aircompressor is not in operation; and each time the air compressor startsinto operation the inlet to the valve is closed and the outlet opened sothe stored air from the reservoir may be released to actuate anothervalve connected to the air storage tank to drain accumulated moisturetherefrom.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a new andimproved valve for an air compressor-storage tank combination that willfunction to actuate a valve connected to the air storage tank to drainaccumulated moisture therefrom that will function on any type of aircompressor-storage tank combination, so long as the aircompressor-storage tank combination starts and stops intermittently.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide new andimproved valve means that will operate with an air compressor-storagetank combination, whether the air compressor be intermittent orcontinuous operation to actuate a valve connected to the air storagetank to drain accumulated moisture therefrom.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a valve simplein construction and operation; economical in construction and operation,long lasting in operation; and economical to purchase.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described herewith and will be particularly pointed out in theclaims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views, the figure shows this valve memberpartly in elevation and partly in crosssection and further shows adiagrammatic view of the organization into which the valve is placed.

This compressor motor and compressor unit is represented generally at lin the drawings and referred to hereafter as a compressor with conductor2 running to the compressor unit l from switch 3. A return conductor 4runs from the compressor unit I to the switch 3. A conductor 5 connectsinto switch 3, and a return ground conductor 6 leads away from theswitch. 3.

Referring now to the bottom of storage tank l, valve 3 is shown insection connectin to the bottom of storage tank 7 to drain accumulatedmoisture from the bottom of storage tank 'l. The valve has beenpreviously claimed and described, but its function and use will again beset forth to show how the new and novel valve herein shown cooperates torelease air under pressure to the valve 8. The valve 13 connects intothe bottom of storage tank I and is actuated periodically to open thestorage tank l through the valve 8 to the exterior to drain accumulatedmoisture from the storage tank I. The valve i3 has a housing member madein two parts 9 and iii; slip fitted together for ease of assembly. Thepart It} has an inlet ll connecting into the bottom of the storage tank7 and'an outlet l2. The inlet II and outlet l2 are connected, togetherwithin housing part It by a passageway is, perpendicular to the inlet IIand outlet l2, all of which make a conduit through the housing partI'll. One end of the passageway l3 forms a valve seat It and a valvestem l5 seats on the seat M to close off flow through the conduit in thehousing part It. The valve stem l5 connects with a piston l6, reciprocalwithin a chamber l'l formed within the housing part 9 and a spring l8acts against piston it to force the piston it to the right, thus movingvalve stem l5 to the right into sealing engagement with the seat Hi toclose ofi passage l3. A pressure medium such as the air under pressurein the storage tank l flows from the new and improved valve to chamberI! to exert its pressure against piston l6, forcing piston it to theleft against the tension in spring l8 thus pulling valve stem [5 off ofseat i l to open the conduit through the housing section it to drainmoisture that may have accumulated in the storage tank 1. An outlet l9leads from chamber I l to allow the air under pressure entering chamberIT to escape. Th outlet l9 has a restricted opening 20 which opening 29can be adjusted by restricting screw 21 to vary the size of'opening Zll.The chamber ll is sealed from the conduit in housing part H! by a gasket22, which also seals valve stem l5 passin through gasket 22. Whenchamber l1 becomes exhausted of air under pressure, spring it forces thevalve stem I5 to the right into en agement with seat 14, thus closingofi the conduit through the housing part Ill. An Opening 23 is providedin housing part 9 to allow air under pressure that may seep back ofpiston Hi to escape to the atmosphere.

The electric switch 3 as previously explained, connects into thecompressor assembly I and when switch 3 is closed, sets the compressor1! into operation. The switch 3 is connected into th storage tank I inthe usual way (not shown) and when the pressure in storage tank 1 dropsto a predetermined low value, the switch 3 is closed, the compressor Iset into operation and the pressure of air in storage tank I raised to apredetermined high value at which time the switch Sis opened andcompressor I stops operation. I

A means 24, which may be a solenoid in one species, is electricallyconnected into switch 3 by conductor 25 running to solenoid 2 and areturn conductor 26 entering switch 3. When the switch 3 is closed,electric current flows to solenoid 2 3 to energize electro-magnet 27which in turn pulls plunger 28 downwardly. When switch 3 is open, noelectric current flows to electro-magnet 2'! hence it is not energizedand spring 29 will push plunger 28 upwardly. It can be seen that whencompressor l operates the electro-magnet 21 of solenoid 24 will also beenergized.

The new and improved valve is represented generally at 39 and has ahousing 3|. The housing 8i has an inlet end 32 which connects by aconduit 33 with the air storage tank 7. The housing 3! also has anoutlet end 34 which connects by a conduit 35 into the valve 8 anddischarges air under pressure into the chamber ll. The inlet end 32 ofhousing 3i receives a thimble 36 with the inner end El of the thimbleproviding a seat for a valve stem to seat against. The seat 37 must bemachined for a perfect seal, hence placing the seat 3? on the thimble 36allows easy machining and allows housing 35! to be cast without anymachining. A thimble 38 fits into the top of housing 3! and has a seat39. Between the seats 3i and 38 is a chamber iii.

A valve stem is included within the valve housing and has a lowerportion 4! to fit within the chamber 18 between seats 31 and 35 Thevalve stem portion H is shorter than the length of chamber it and issmaller in diameter than the chamber ll to leave a passageway betweenthe chamber 4i? and the valve stem portion 5|. The lower end of thevalve stem portion ll has a sealing member 32 to contact seat 3? onthimble 36 when the valve stem portion il is in its extreme downwardposition to close oil flow to chamber as from the inlet end 32. When thevalve stem is in its extreme downward position, a tapered portion 43 onthe upper end of the valve stem portion i! is pulled out of engagementwith seat 3% on the bottom of thimble 38 and the chamber 49 is opened topassageways 45 and "it in thimble 38 which passageways t5 and 48 in turnconnect into the. outlet end 34. A passageway t! connects into chamberit and has a reservoir 48 of substantial capacity connected to the otherend'of passageway ll.

The valve stem has a portion 49 above the lower portion i! that extendsthrough the passageway a5 and is of a smaller diameter than thepassageway 35 to make a passageway between the valve stem portion 58 andthe inner wall of thepassageway 4-5. A valve stem portion at extendsthrough the thimble 38 and has a sealing fit within the thimble andextends beyond the valve housing 3! which portion 50 of the valve stemis contacted by an arm til extending from the plunger 28 of the solenoid24.

In operation of the new and improved valve 36 of Figure 1, when thecompressor is not in .operation the parts of the organization are in theposition shown in Figure 1. In this position, the electromagnet 2? isnot energized, hence spring 29 pushes plunger 28 to its extreme upwardposition. The valve stem is restrained in its upward movement by thetapered portion 43 of the valve stem portion M contacting the seat 39 onthe lower end of the thimble 38. The arm 5! connected to plunger 28 isso positioned that it will not in anyway restrain the tapered portion 53from seating on seat 39 and sealing chamber M? from the outlet 3 Theinlet end is connected by conduit 33 with storage tank 1 and the airunder pressure in storage tank i will flow to the inlet 32 of the valvehousing and the pressure of the air will force the valve stem upwardlywith the tapered portion 43 seating on the seat 39. The air underpressure will enter chamber as, passageway 41 and air reservoir d8 untilthe pressure in reservoir 43 is the same as in storage tank 1.

When the pressure in storage tank 1 falls by use of the air underpressure through outlet 52 leading from the storage tank 1, it becomesnecessary to maintain the pressure on the air in the storage tank 1. Letus assume the top pressure maintained on the air in storage tank 1 is125 pounds per square inch. As the air is used from storage tank 1 itspressure drops until 100 pounds per square inch is registered. At thispoint, the lower predetermined value, the switch 3 is closed, startingcompressor i into operation to build the pressure on the air in storagetank 1 up to 125 pounds per square inch.

The solenoid 24 attached to valve housing 3i also has electric currentflow to the electromagnet 21 to energize the electromagnet 21. Theplunger 28 is pulled downwardly along with arm 5! compressing coilspring 29. The arm 5| contacts the valve stem portion 5!], forcing thevalve stem downwardly until the gasket 42 on the lower portion 4| of thevalve stem rests on the seat 31 and seals the inlet from the chamber 40thus closing off communication between storage tank I and chamber 40. Atthe same time, the tapered portion 43 on the top of the lower portion llof the valve stem is pulled oil the seat 39. A passageway is open in thechamber ill between the lower valve stem portion 4| and the chamber wall40 in communication with the reservoir 58. The valve stem portion 49 andthe wall of passageway 45 leave a space to connect the passageway inchamber 19 with the passageway 46. The passageway 46- connects intooutlet 34 and allows the air under pressure stored in reservoir 48 tofiow through conduit 35 into chamber ll of valve 8 to open the valve 8and allow accumulated liquid in storage tank 1 to drain.

o long as the compressor l operates and until the pressure in storagetank 1 is built up to the predetermined value of 125 pounds per squareinch, as was assumed, the solenoid 24 and arm 5| will hold the valvestem seated on the seat 31.

When the storage tank attains the top pressure,

of said 125 pounds per square inch, the switch 3 is opened and thecompressor l stops and the solenoid 24 becomes de-energized. The coilspring 29 will move the arm 51 upwardly, and th air pressure fromstorage tank 1 will force the valve stem upwardly until the taperedportion 43 seats on the portion 39 closing oil flow to the outlet 34.The air reservoir 58 will again fill and be ready to supply air underpressure to the chamber ll of valve 8 to drain accumulated moisture fromthe storage tank I.

It will be seen that a valve is presented in Figure 1 that functionsevery time a compressor starts into operation to provide the pressuremedium to actuate a valve to drain accumulated moisture from a storagetank or is adapted for use with compressors that operate intermittently.Further the operation of the valve is dependent on an air storage tankand a switch to start the compressor into operation when the pressuredrops to a predetermined low value, two features that all intermittentlyoperating compressor units have regardless of any other features hencethe present structure would have general application in the intermittentoperation field.

It will be understood that the invention has been described for purposesof illustration and explanation and that changes and variations arepossible without departing from the scope of the invention; all suchmodifications and changes are intended to be included in the appendedclaims.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my valveused as a control and method of making same without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to coverby my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In an air compressor having a motor operating the air compressor andthe air compressor motor placed into operation by an electric switch,said electric switch connected with an air storage tank associated withthe air compressor and the electric switch controlling the compressormotor, closing when the pressure in the air storage tank falls to apredetermined value, said air storage tank having a valve means openedby air under pressure connected therewith to drain accumulated moisturefrom the air storage tank each time the compressor motor operates, theimprovement comprising a second valve structure having a valve housingwith an inlet in an end of the housing connected to the air storage tankand an outlet in an end of the housing connected into the firstmentioned valve, a thimble entered into the inlet of the valve housingwith the inner end of the thimble presenting a seat, a second thimbleentered into the outlet end of the valve housing with the inner end ofthe thimble presenting a seat, a chamber between the two seats andwithin the valve housing, a valve within the chamber alternately seatingon the seat on the inlet end and the seat on the outlet end, an airreservoir associated with the chamber, said valve within the chamberbeing smaller than the chamber to form a passageway between the valvestem and chamber to the outlet from the air reservoir when the valvestem seats on the thimble in the inlet end and a solenoid connected withthe electric switch and energized to force the valve stem downwardlyinto closed position against the seat on the inlet thimble when thecompressor motor starts into operation.

2. In an air compressor having a motor operating the air compressor andthe air compressor motor placed into operation by an electric switch,said electric switch connected with an air storage tank associated withthe air compressor and the electric switch controlling the compressormotor, closing when the pressure in the air storage tank falls to apredetermined value, said air storage tank having a valve means openedby air under pressure connected therewith to drain accumulated moisturefrom the air storage tank each time the compressor motor operates, theimprovement comprising a second valve structure having a valve housingwith an inlet in an end of the housing connected to the air storage tankand an outlet in an end of the housing connected into the firstmentioned valve, a thimble entered into the inlet of the valve housingwith the inner end of the thimble presenting a seat, a second thimbleentered into the outlet end of the valve housing with the inner end ofthe thimble presenting a seat, a chamber between the two seats andwithin the valve housing, a valve within the valve housing having aportion of the valve stem in the chamber and another portion of thevalve stem extending above the valve housing, said portion of the valvewithin the chamber being of a less length than the chamber so it mayalternately seat on the seat on the inlet end and the seat on the outletend, an air reservoir connected to the valve housing and a passagewayconnecting the reservoirwith' the chamber, said valve stem within. thechamber being of a smaller diameter than the chamber to form apassageway between the valve stem and chamber to the outlet from the airreservoir when the valve stem is seated on the inlet seat and a solenoidconnected to the valve housing having an arm in contact with the top ofthe valve stem with said solenoid connected with the electric switch andenergized to force the arm and the valve stem downwardly into closedposition across the seat on the inlet thimble when the compressor motorstarts into operation.

3. In an air compressor having a motor operating the air compressor andthe air compressor motor placed into operation by an electric switch,said electric switch connected with an air storage tank associated withthe air compressor and the 1 electric switch controlling the compressormotor, closing when the pressure in the air storage tank falls to apredetermined value, said air storage tank having a valve means openedby air under pressure connected therewith to drain accumulated moisturefrom the air storage tank each time the compressor motor operates, theimprovement comprising a second valve structure having a valve housingwith an inlet into the housing connected to the air storage tank and anoutlet therefrom connected into the first mentioned valve, a first valveseat within said valve housing communicating with said inlet, a secondvalve seat within said valve housing communicating with said outlet, achamber between said first and second valve seats, a valve within saidchamber alternately seating on said first and. second valve seats, anair reservoir associated with said chamber, said chamber provided with apassageway connecting said reservoir to said second Valve seat when saidvalve is seated on said first valve seat, and a solenoid connected withthe electric switch and energized to force said valve stem downwardlyagainst said first valve seat when the compressor motor starts intooperation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,007,358 Anger July 9, 1935 2,330,027 Churchman et al. Sept.21, 1943 2,505,663 Churchman Apr. 25, 1950 2,509,879 Pelton May 30, 19502,532,607 Churchman Dec. 5, 1950 2,552,518 Churchman May 15, 1951

